I confess, I am not only an addict, but I have become a "pusher"

[paok]

Women are much easier to convince than men IMO.

That's also the case with my friends.Female friends are easily impressed while male ones kind of worry that they get the "he watches chick flicks" tag.
Though very few like the more artsy films to the blockbusters

[albatross]

Women are much easier to convince than men IMO.

That's also the case with my friends.Female friends are easily impressed while male ones kind of worry that they get the "he watches chick flicks" tag.

Oh I don't know the "chaiya chaiya" scene from Dil Se has won a few of my male friends 

[paok]

I haven't tried Dil Se yet as an intro movie albatross,
because i find it too different or special to try on people unfamiliar with BW.
I do show  it though to those who  have seen  a few films and are more likely to get hooked .
And they have all liked it until now

[albatross]

I haven't tried Dil Se yet as an intro movie albatross,

I was just referring to the  dance atop the train - which ironically has little to do with the story - and the woman dancing isn't even manisha! but every guy I have shown to has said, in effect "hmm if this is bollywood, then bollywood's okay'   here is a small demo of 'why'

[paok]

Well,it sure is a "cult" scene.
I've actually used the song as an intro to BW music and it worked well.
Maybe,i'll give it a try to show a film songs DVD as an introduction with chaiya in it.
By the way, i think the girl in the clip was Malaika Arora

[LilAni]

I've currently got my best friend and her family bonkers about Aishwarya!

We even randomly started watching a Tamil show in English class today when my friends and I were goofing off, and everyone loved it!

[Shannadu]

I'm a pusher, too. My mom is now totally addicted, as is my best friend. Even my stepdad likes Bollywood.  Although, every time we put on a ShahRukh Khan film, he says, "Hey, it's that same guy!"

I have one friend who's only seen a few BW movies and hates Shahrukh Khan. But she told me she happened to be walking through a street fair in Santa Barbara where one of the vendors was watching a movie, and she said to the friend she was with "Oh, that's Devdas, and that's where Chandramukhi and Paro..."  So funny!

I have a couple of friends that I've forced to watch a few bollywood films, but they don't really care for them too much.  However, all I need to do is sing the opening notes of the title song in K3G, and they start singing along with me.  "Aaaaaahh, kabhie khushi, kabhie gham..."   It drives them crazy, but they can't help it...It's like Pavlov's dogs or something.  It's amazing (and hilarious!)

I'm still working on some of my family members and friends, but they'll come around.  Unfortunately, a lot of my guy friends have only seen Mujhse Dosti Karoge, so that turned them off to BWood, and I don't blame them.  I'll have to try Dil Se on them.

[albatross]

I'm a pusher, too. My mom is now totally addicted, as is my best friend. Even my stepdad likes Bollywood.  Although, every time we put on a ShahRukh Khan film, he says, "Hey, it's that same guy!"

I have one friend who's only seen a few BW movies and hates Shahrukh Khan. But she told me she happened to be walking through a street fair in Santa Barbara where one of the vendors was watching a movie, and she said to the friend she was with "Oh, that's Devdas, and that's where Chandramukhi and Paro..."  So funny!

The one at the end of State street? ( I visit SB about once a year. LOVE the santa barbara brewery

I have a couple of friends that I've forced to watch a few bollywood films, but they don't really care for them too much.  However, all I need to do is sing the opening notes of the title song in K3G, and they start singing along with me.  "Aaaaaahh, kabhie khushi, kabhie gham..."   It drives them crazy, but they can't help it...It's like Pavlov's dogs or something.  It's amazing (and hilarious!)

I'm still working on some of my family members and friends, but they'll come around.  Unfortunately, a lot of my guy friends have only seen Mujhse Dosti Karoge, so that turned them off to BWood, and I don't blame them.  I'll have to try Dil Se on them.

Funny, as I was reading this (when i should be working ) i just 'converted someone. She saw the printout of this 'black poster:

http://black.indiatimes.com/poster3.htm

and I talked up the film. She is now going to watch it.

[MissLeota]

It's nice to see so many other people are BW pushers! My sis and I have lent BW movies to 13 people or so at work. Half of them keep wanting new ones. Then there are 6 other friends who now like them from or pushing, and 5 family members.

[Prem Rogue]

I know a couple of goras who got into BW with Dil Se also, so don't be afraid to show it to people.  In fact, it isn't as ridiculous as some films, so it probably won't put off people because of that.  The music and cinematography are top notch, so at least on a visceral level people are likely to be engrossed by it.

[LilAni]

Ok, so now my best friend is SO into BW that we are going to write a Bollywood parody. We're crazy creative kids, we write little humourous stories all the time, but we were out of ideas, until BW came along!

[Flopka]

Has anyone ever shown the one-minute Tennant's commercial to anyone as a teaser? 

I tell people that if they liked "Grease" they should like a lot of Bollywood movies.  And then when I described "Devdas" as "Gone With the Wind" meets "Grease"... that got at least one person interested...

[bollyquest]

Oh I don't know the "chaiya chaiya" scene from Dil Se has won a few of my male friends

well, here's a case of mass-pushing...  and again, got loads of responses for chhaiyya chhaiyya

i assist on an Intro to World Music and Culture class and try to use as much of Bollywood as I can. Have had a week-long module on Bollywood for the past two semesters and invariably have students (of course, it's only a few) come up and ask where they can find the films where these songs come from. it's always exciting to see potential converts after such a short exposure -that too in a classroom set-up. though, since i also have to explain the market dynamics of popular music industry as well as mass-mediation etc. the BW charm does get underplayed. though, 'chhaiyya chhaiyya' never fails - who are they? is the train really moving? so how do you think they shot it? etc. in another session, i used Chappa Chappa to compare it to Britasian bhangra.

i think i might plan the BW module differently next year - any ideas as to how i could get the most converts out of mid-western, mostly white undergrads? any song suggestions that i should use? used chhaiyya, jaane kyon? and dholi taro (HDDCS) this semester - shahrukh, aamir, salman, aish and preity in two lecture sessions! also played the classical-based piece from HDDCS to show how different musics were related. couldn't get hold of B&P so that wasn't possible.

[Anamika]

Oh I don't know the "chaiya chaiya" scene from Dil Se has won a few of my male friends

well, here's a case of mass-pushing...  and again, got loads of responses for chhaiyya chhaiyya...

Wow, if we had a pusher's award I'm sure you'd get it now!   
And really, chhaiyya chhaiyya is great. I played it to a friend a few weeks ago - last week she asked me for more music from A.R. Rahman and then she asked if we could watch a BW film together. Maybe I'll have my first convert soon.

There are no American "mid-western, mostly white undergrads" round here, so I don't know what works with them. Maybe some upbeat Anu Malik stuff like his MHN songs? I have a (mid-european mostly white) male friend who likes this kind of musik a lot... ...but he still won't watch a BW film with me. 

[albatross]

Last night, after a dinner and a few pints, i went into a long diatrabe about bollywood to a friend who is visiting me, we ended up watching clips from DEvdas, Dil Se and Swades, and he is now hooked! (its rough day at work today but it was worth it!  )

[Khubsurat]

Last night, after a dinner and a few pints, i went into a long diatrabe about bollywood to a friend who is visiting me, we ended up watching clips from DEvdas, Dil Se and Swades, and he is now hooked! (its rough day at work today but it was worth it!  )

that sounds fun....brainwsashing with drinks is easy!
kidding....

[Shannadu]

8 months ago, a temp was called to my office to cover my desk while I covered someone else's job.  She was curious about the big collage of pictures of SRK and Kajol and Rani interspersed with quotes from the "You know you are obsessed with Bollywood when" page on the main site (I got bored at work one day and had some glue handy).  So, I wound up telling her about my passion for Bollywood (which she had never been exposed to).  I figured she thought I was crazy, like the other people in my office do, but I gave her a list of movie recommendations anyway. 

She only stayed for a few days, and I hadn't heard from her since then, but a few days ago, she calls me up at work and says, "Hey, thanks for the movie recommendations.  I loved Lagaan---that guy is so hot! Let me know next time you go to see a Bollywood movie, ok?"  Go me!  I converted another one!

[Gori_Ireth]

I love this thread. I have had little luck pushingl! One co-worker stared at me saying, "you know these are really all B-moves, right?". Oh whatever. My other coworker said she would most definitely fall asleep and claimed what she had heard from my car stereo gave her a headache. 

My hubby finally said in exasperation, "WHAT is the deal with me having to watch those movies?" I said, it is something I am really passionate about, and want to share it with you. He got all mushy then - Awwwww - but still resisted.

Oh I forgot I had one captive audience - my Mom. She was a guest in my house and my Dad fell fast asleep (not befoer imitating a woman singing in a very high voice) but Mom actually watched Kuch na Kaho, and then Dhaai Aksar Prem Ke, and Dil Chahtai Hai. I got another movie in the mail and said in jest, look when do you want to watch it, this Friday? And she leaned in and whispered: "sooner!". Yeah!

This was a special feat considering that I had to simultaneously translate the subtitles for her, because her English isn't as good. I will order some dubbed movies for her through the German Amazon.com branch.

[Anamika]

Oh I forgot I had one captive audience - my Mom. She was a guest in my house and my Dad fell fast asleep (not befoer imitating a woman singing in a very high voice) but Mom actually watched Kuch na Kaho, and then Dhaai Aksar Prem Ke, and Dil Chahtai Hai. I got another movie in the mail and said in jest, look when do you want to watch it, this Friday? And she leaned in and whispered: "sooner!". Yeah!

This was a special feat considering that I had to simultaneously translate the subtitles for her, because her English isn't as good. I will order some dubbed movies for her through the German Amazon.com branch.

What a sweet story! But the dubbed German DVDs are really quite expensive. Does your mum live in Germany or the U.S.? Can you receive German TV via satellite? Because the German TV channel RTLII announced, they will show a series of 12 Bollywood movies this Autumn, starting on Sep. 16th with KKHH (all titles of their series: Veer-Zaara, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dil Ka Rishta, Hum Tum, Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Saathiya, Asoka, Swades, Dhoom, Koi Mil Gaya, Chalte Chalte and Kisna).  Maybe you could tape them or ask someone in Germany to do it for you?

Probably the number of Bollywood fans in Germany will skyrocket soon!

[albatross]

This was a special feat considering that I had to simultaneously translate the subtitles for her, because her English isn't as good. I will order some dubbed movies for her through the German Amazon.com branch.

Oh my! have you ever heard about those books by mark twain and wodehouse that are translated into french then translated back into English - they are supposed to be even more hysterial than the originals    BTW, i think there are more than a few german posters here -


In any event - after sending three BW films to my parents, SUCCESS! they really liked swades and veer-zaara.

[Gori_Ireth]

@Ele, thanks so much for the heads-up! I will make sure she will look for them, I think they have cable and should be able to receive it.
@alabatross, hehe you obvioulsy do not have much confience in my second career as a simultan translator. Don't worry I won' quit my day job  it was difficult to talk through the inevitable tears, though. "I... sob... love you, too...sob" i think I made it sound very real 
PS maybe now somone could tell me why my personal picture is not showing in my profile? Is there a size or format requirement?

[albatross]

@Ele, thanks so much for the heads-up! I will make sure she will look for them, I think they have cable and should be able to receive it.
@alabatross, hehe you obvioulsy do not have much confience in my second career as a simultan translator. Don't worry I won' quit my day job  it was difficult to talk through the inevitable tears, though. "I... sob... love you, too...sob" i think I made it sound very real 
PS maybe now somone could tell me why my personal picture is not showing in my profile? Is there a size or format requirement?

...well the subtitles are already iffy to begin with - there's a thread here somewhere ...i think ...about all the goofy mis-translations and typos. on more expensive productions its usually better, but not always.


RE: picture: make sure its a its the right size, the right format (convert to a .gif file) and upload it to something like www.photobucket.com - unless you have an external webspace you can put it at.

as for you husband..show him chaiya chaiya from dil se..and he might have a change of heart

[Martha]

I have finally started to get some success with my pushing efforts after several months of trying!  I now have 4 co-workers watching the DVD's in my collection. 

I saw my first BW movie, Veer-Zaara, on a trip to India in December.  When I got back to work in January, I noticed that several of the co-workers had a picture of Brad Pitt hanging up by their desks.  It was a calendar and he was Mr. January (mostly dressed - the picture was ok for at work).  I figured that if they could have a movie actor picture at their desks, so could I, so I put a picture of SRK as the desktop background on my computer.  This got plenty of attention and several asked "who's that guy on your computer?".  I explained who he is, but I wasn't in any position to push movies yet, since I hadn't found the video rental store at that time, nor had I found the BW movie theater.  I had not even seen V-Z with subtitles, yet.  Two of the co-workers did recognize SRK.  They are from Cambodia, originally, and had seen some BW movies.  There is a store somewhere in California that sells Hindi DVD's dubbed in Cambodian.  They had not seen any new movies in several years, though. 

As time went on and I saw more films, bought a DVD player and bought some DVD's, I tried pushing a little.  I got one co-worker to watch Main Hoon Na.  The subtitles were not a problem for her, since she is older and hard of hearing and needs to use subs/closed captions even when watching stuff in English.  She liked the movie, but was not that impressed with SRK.  The only other DVD I had then was V-Z, so I didn't push any further.  Finally, after months of talking about various movies, one of the Cambodian co-workers agreed to watch Veer-Zaara with subtitles.  I told her she at least needed to understand how I got addicted.  I also loaned her Swades and DDLJ to watch while I was on vacation.  Well, she loved the movies and found that reading subtitles was not so bad after all.  She loaned the DVD's to the other Cambodian co-worker and they were both anxious for more, so I've been bringing in my collection (which is fairly large, now) in to them a few at a time.  The co-worker who had watched Main Hoon Na wanted to see more, so she has been watching them, too.  She is starting to appreciate SRK, but she likes Salman better.  A fourth co-worker is now interested in watching some of my movies.  She had been watching Mexican soaps most of the time and is ready for a change.  I loaned her V-Z and Kal Ho Na Ho for the weekend.  I think both of those have Spanish subtitles as an option.  She has not watched anything with subs before, so she didn't know whether Spanish or English would work best for her. 

The 3 that have seen most of my DVD's have now asked for detailed directions to the video store, since they know my collection will run out soon.  (I should get some points from the store for recruitment efforts.)  There are a few more co-workers who might be interested in watching these movies as more of us are talking about them at lunch!  Subtitles are the biggest hurdle for most of them, though.

My mother does not understand why I am trying to convert people, but she has agreed to watch one movie the next time we get together, which will be next month.  My sister has seen Main Hoon Na and wants to see another one the next time we get together, which will probably be Christmas or Easter. 

I have not gotten any of my friends to agree to watch any of my movies yet, but I am content with "converting" co-workers and family for now.

[2hapyft]

Last week I spoke with my sister and she told me that she was going to have a culture weekend and make her children watch Bollywood flicks with her. These are movies I sent to her for Christmas. When she finally sat down with them my two nieces started telling her what was going on in the movies. LOL While she was at work or sleeping they had been watching the movies all along. I new they would be receptive as they sat and watched Whale Rider with me last summer and it has some subtittles. I must hurry and send her another batch and find some action movies for my nephews though they too watched Whale Rider. We are passing it to the next generation. 

[tabula rasa]

I think I might've had a leeeetle bit of success at last

I invited my playwright friend over for a BW day, and he wanted to watch the end of KHNH ( he left during interval when we watched it at the BW festival earlier this year ), but like in the theatre, he was paying it out so much I stopped the movie after Mahi Ve ( which surprisingly, he liked. Perhaps I should just show him the songs and dances and be done with it! ).

And then, we were discussing how I was having very little success in picking BW genres that he might like - I've tried everything, from DDLJ, to Company, to Dil Chahta Hai, and now KHNH. My very last choice was now Raincoat, which I put on - and HE LIKED IT! He kept mentioning how it looked like a play, since the characters were talking a lot, and in real time.

My other friend Katie came by halfway through, so we couldn't discuss the movie properly afterwards, but it really looked like he liked it - however he said it was the most UN-Bollywood movie he'd seen, which I don't think is a compliment to BW itself!

So there you go, my most hard BW critic, softened a little. He hasn't asked me for 'more of the same',which means it's not a sign of the 'falling in love with BW' which we do, but it's something, and also, we've had quite a few 'misfired movies' before, so it may be a while b4 he agrees to watch another movie. I'm thinking Black, given the success with Raincoat.

As for Katie - we watched Devdas - and I was so right about that. She was in raptures, and kept saying Ash looked 'unworldly' . She'd also seen KHNH with me, and liked it. She liked this, too, esply the dancing and the great sets ( she loves architecture ), but had a huge gripe that all the movies she's watched of 'that guy' (SRK ) had him dying, and why can't he just marry one of them and have a happy ending? Methinks she's a DDLJ-fan in waiting.

That's my success story so far, after countless disappointments, so I thought is should merit a post.